Turn Up Knox encourages community to come together after string of violence

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - After four homicides in ten days, community members are coming together to encourage people to find other ways to express their anger.

”We have to start making people think I mean we can do it but also it can be people in the community that can, you know you see somebody angry somebody about to go off the deep end, pull up on them, talk to them, try to make them see where we’re going you do want them to overreact or just let them crash, you have to pull them back some,” said Rashaad Woods, a violence interrupter with Turn Up Knox.

Turn Up Knox is a community group that is focused on stopping violence in the city by providing youth programs, and now a location for people to gather and fill their time with meaningful activity.

”With our interrupters, we do intervention, remediation and the preventative measures were taking are you know trying to reach the younger people to try and get them involved and do the positive thing instead of resulting to gun violence,” said Lydia Brown, the program coordinator for Turn Up Knox.

Turn Up Knox will have a community kick-back spot on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. that is set to open in Mid-June.

Turn Up Knox and those working with them hope by providing education, kind ears, and a safe place to gather will help reduce violence in the community and drive a greater respect for people with differences that they struggle to overcome.

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